How Did You Start?

Started vaping 2008, did well, guit the stinkies for over 8 years. Not proud of myself, but went back to stinkers.
I got dissatisfied with not getting enough flavor, I'm a true flavorholic.
Had 2 provaris, one got lost, got the kabuki on the other, flavor is disappointing. Actually had decent flavor from the dolphin pod system, but all 3 of my dolphins died within a couple weeks. Had so many things, eleaf was decent for a while.
That was a few years back & now there's so many new products that I'm veclempt.
Can anyone recommend something that excels in delivering flavor, please? Many thanx!  

Any veteran vaper will tell you this truth.
We have all probably tried them at first. I know I did. I can tell you a universal and undeniable truth about them.
They are garbage.
They are nothing more than a most introductory lesson into vaping. I know of no vaper in my circle of friends that started with a cigalike and continue to use them. They have many flaws and 1 in particular comes to mind.
In the cartomizer, the unit that holds the 'liquid', no one has any idea what is in there. Sure, the package might tell you but how do you know? These cigalikes were the only product used in a study in 2008 to determine what was in the liquid. The results were disturbing but not surprising. They found formaldehyde, cyanide and other toxic chemicals usually found in cigarette smoke. So, yes, they really are cigalikes. But at the same time, painted the entire industry with a broad brush so now everyone thinks that vaping is just as deadly, if not more so, than smoking analog cigarettes which is nothing but one gigantic lie. Any vaper will tell you that.
Why were these chemicals found in a vaporizer? Because most cigalikes are, and have been, produced by Big Tobacco. They don't want to lose customers or money. They want every former smoker to be just as addicted to their cigalikes as they were to their cigarettes. There are several videos on YouTube of interviews with BT representatives that say this very thing.
Don't buy the garbage because it's cheap. Go to your local vape shop and talk to someone who was in your shoes.  

I'm new to vaping, I started vaping because I'm getting tired of people complaining about the smoking odor after I smoke. And I don't even smoke that much, maybe 6-8 cigs a day.
I started trying out the Stlth about 3 weeks ago and got used to it, so I went to a store to get the refillable stuff. I bought a Caliburn device and the guy in the store recommended a juice from his own store brand.
After I got home I put the juice in the device and tried it but I couldn't feel the throat hit at all, the juice was 3mg, the Stlth I used was 3.5mg which had the perfect hit for me.
I went back to the store and asked if I can exchange for one with a higher Nic. He told me he can't take it back because I opened it, strange that if it's his own brand, couldn't he just refill it and reseal it in another bottle? I only used about 2ml so far.
But anyway, he told me the ejuice has smoother draw that's why there's no throat hit as NIC salt, I did some more research and found that it's the opposite of what I've read, everything I read are saying that ejuice has more throat hit than Nic salt.
Sorry for the long store, the bottle he sold me was 60ml ($30) which is a big waste to throw away. Is there anyway I can salvage this bottle by mixing it with something else to give me that little bit of a throat hit when I draw?  

History. I'm 66, smoked for more than 30 years, quit when I had a small heart attack at about 47-49 years old. BP issues requiring meds and other health issues.

About last August 2019 I had a bunch of stress come up and handled it badly. I started on mild cigars and moved to medium strong. Got in a situation where I couldn't smoke a stogie, so bummed a cigarette. That morphed into smoking more than a carton and stogies.

I knew they'd kill me so I picked up a Juul 3%, not enough moved to 5%.
Moved on to a Vinci x and 50 salt.

Have been mixing and dropping the salt and was to 25ish. Was getting a lot of choking white phlegm every morn. Vaping mostly tobacco with very little flavor. 70-30 was better than 50-50 for muscus/phlegm problem.

The purpose of vaping was to avoid analogs and eventually quit all nicotine.

I'm into the second day today. Piece of nicorette gum in one cheek and a nicorette lozenge in the other. Both 2mg. Consult your doctor on doubling up patches, gum etc.

Withdrawal wasn't bad so far at all. Don't know if vape nic absorbs different or not. It's different than quitting analogs somehow for me anyway.

Anyhow, passing it on for anyone thinking of going down the path of being nic free again. I was off everything for 15+ years and for my heart and health am going there again.

I do have to say though that vaping definitely kept me 100% off analogs once I switched. And didn't palpitate or sense any issues from it, other than a 20 count BP rise.

I vaped lightly, 100-150 2-3 second puffs per day. I still have the equipment and juice if I fail, but so far it's going well.

Dave  

I know I'm not a popular user on here like Baditude and all them, been I figured I'd post my story since I've been away.

I've been vaping for the past 9 months, and within the past month, I have unfortunately started to smoke cigarettes again.

In the past I have had problems with depression and anxiety (it started about 3 years ago) and I was on Lexapro and xanax for over a year. Everything was great and I was able to go places and socialize. I stopped taking it a almost 2 years ago thinking I was fine enough to stop. I was, until about 3 weeks ago, all this anxiety started rushing back out of nowhere. It didn't help that I got some sort of flu that was going around but have since recovered from that. At this point, I am afraid to leave my house. I have been having a hell of a time going to work, which was never an issue a month ago. I have had to take time off for the flu and for my anxiety and depression. I broke down at work in front of my boss (not something I'm proud of) and told him I have had these problems in the past and that I need to get back on my Lexapro. So at the beginning of this week, I went to my doctor, which I had a VERY hard time doing as I wanted to pass out and throw up the entire time. She got me back on my meds, but with any kind of anti-depressant it takes a while for it to build up in your system.

I have already taken 4 days off of work, and I'm still afraid to leave my house to do any basic task like going grocery shopping or even just driving (I start to have a panic attack anytime I get stopped at a stop light in traffic.) I'm afraid of losing my job, but I think I can do the FMLA stuff but I'm having doubts on whether what I'm experiencing would allow me to do that. I'll have to read up on what I can do, but I'm just so afraid of losing my job, which would devastate my girlfriend and I know I would get looked down upon by everyone I know. I've been so stressed about it that my body feels my vapes are inadequate and I unfortunately picked up a pack of cigarettes and started smoking again. I'm just so scared right now and I feel like I'm in a rut that I can't get out of.

I know it's not the end of the world, but my mind is telling me that it is, and it's worrying me so bad  

i quit smoking for about 3 months back in the carto tank days.

then they stopped making cartomizers. then all my juice vendors went out.

I've been struggling to find a replacement since. I've easily spent too much money on vaping. I"m getting tired of trying.

are these new pods similar to carto tanks?
I'm so lost.

I have lost interest in the clouds. I just want to stop my 30 year long smoking addiction. I miss my carto tanks. they worked for me. I'm frustrated. I'm tired. I'm lost.  

I "successfully" quit vaping for 2 month. It actually wasn't that bad, I was able to fill the void with music/gum/walks. Right now I have 0 physical temptation to vape.

But there has been many stressful situations and I feel without the vape it made everything harder. To me, it's not that I had to have it, but it was something enjoyed. And taking it away made life a little less fun. It's like saying you can never eat candy or drink coffee again.

The only reason I quit was for the health benefits. I heard vaping can cause COPD but then I also hear it's a lot less harmful than smoking. But here's the thing that really demotivates one from quitting vaping:

We are not sure how harmful is it (if at all)

There are many other things bad for us in life, like air pollution, asbestos, etc. Is it worth giving up something that you enjoy for a marginal health benefit? I vape at a low wattage so I don't think I'm getting lots of formaldehydes.
I'm really thinking about going back to vaping. I think I'll vape a few more years and if news comes out by then that vaping is truly really bad, then I'll quit...

I don't know... it's not like we are going to live forever even if we don't vape/smoke/do anything unhealthy...  

So I heard that the ban in New York will take effect even after the small delay. I'm wondering how I will be able to cope soon. Vaping for me does great things as it keeps me off cigarettes. But one major thing it also does for me is that it lowers my stress level and it relaxes me. Being that I have vaping I have no need to try other things that can be complicated. Someone once told me that my vape is like my pacifier because I always have it in my mouth and I turn to it whenever I am stressed and have anxiety. Truthfully it's terrible that I will be forced to use my pods because Juul couldn't keep their products out of corner stores and leave them for vape shops. When these kids have health issues they blame it on vaping when their parents ask them how it happened and they wanted a high out of school. Even though there is something called deep breathing and vaping isn't done that way I know it cools me off. Many times I was stressed and sweating because, I started to vape and it had it that I was finally able to feel the temperature of the air outside. People need to understand that going with this ban is All Or Nothing thinking, things one is told in therapy to avoid. Now that "it affected a minority" people take it away completely from those who are benefiting from it. Those who are banning - please use common sense - vaping is a lot safer than cigarettes and people are constantly dying from smoke. Vaping was the best thing that has possibly happened in a really long time. Tobbaco plants had a misconception that it was supposed to be smoked until technology introduced a safe method. If it was vaped from the beginning of time people would have lived much longer lives and more people would be born. Those who are cracking down please take this into account.  

Hi all-
I haven't posted in a long while. I am in need of some suggestions as to what could be going in with me all of the sudden with my vaping.

Within the past two months I have a very hard time breathing when vaping. I was just thinking at first that I was getting sick or something. Then, I stopped for a few days completely and I felt better so I started again. The evening of the first day back to vaping, I laid in bed trying to go to sleep feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest and that my throat was closing up. It was very scary. So scary that I have now been to the pulmonologist as well as the cardiologist (because the chest heaviness was bad). My lungs are clear and heart is in good condition. Soooooo....I went and purchased a ZERO nicotine juice thinking that maybe it was the nicotine. NOPE.....that didn't work either, I have used my e-cig only on the past two Saturdays and it has zero nicotine liquid in it and I still have the same problem after the day of vaping. I feel like I am struggling to breath. It is horrible. It takes a day or so to subside. I really enjoy my vape. I quit analogs on April 9, 2011 and have been vaping every since. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could possibly be? Maybe I should try just VG Juices....would that make a difference? Please help....any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!  

For a start, I wasn't a heavy smoker. The farthest I've gotten is seven sticks a day.

Started vaping once with some eGo CE4/5's, it's not a good clearo so it went back to lighting up again.

Gotten some Vivi Novas, chain vaping for say, a month? Alternating between analogues, around a stick or two a day, then the battery got fried.

Went back to analogues again, picked up some mechmods, survive on alternating smoking/vaping for a bit.

Been busy for a bit and vaping just for nic fix, got into DIY to cut cost.

Found out it's habits, and gotten used getting nic fix by vaping.

Now resensitized to tobacco like before I even smoked, felt like vomitting like the first time.

Dependence on nicottine is dropping.